Death Of A Bachelor Tour 2017: Panic! At The Disco Concert Experience

BY: CAITLYN JENKINS

Just typing the title of this article gave me PCD (post concert depression, for those of you that don’t know).

Last night I saw Panic! At The Disco perform for their Death of a Bachelor tour at the Infinite Energy Center. This was my third time seeing Panic! and the biggest venue I have ever seen them play. I was lucky enough to have seats on the floor, 11th row, and I could not have been happier with how the concert turned out. (Shoutout to my boyfriend Royce for getting me the tickets). I knew this concert was going to be special because it was Brendon Urie’s birthday. (Brendon is the lead singer and actually the only remaining full-time member of the band)

The show opened with Saint Motel, followed by Misterwives. I missed seeing both bands but luckily got there in time for Panic! At The Disco.

Ten minutes before the show started, they put a countdown on the big screen. Every so often something would happen on the screen and fans would scream. Then it got down to the one minute mark. It still felt kind of unreal to me, but as soon as they got on stage I was jumping and screaming to their opening song, “Don’t Threaten Me With A Good Time.”

Brendon followed with “Ready to Go [Get Me Out Of My Mind]”off of Vices and Virtues. I was excited for this because he only sang three songs off this album. After they finished, Panic! performed “Golden Days” while sparks literally flew down from the ceiling, as you can see in the short video clip below.

Next was “Vegas Lights”, I included a short video of this song too because it shows off Brendon’s amazing vocal range along with some of the visuals of the song.

Next was one of my favorite parts of the show. Brendon did a mash-up of “The Only Difference Between Martyrdom And Suicide Is Press Coverage”, “Camisado” (inspired by my favorite book, Fight Club), and “But It’s Better If You Do.” Although I really, really wish they sang more of their old songs, it was still cool that he combined three off the debut album to at least give some variety to what songs they picked off their older albums.

Panic! At The Disco continued with “Hallelujah” which I think is one of the best dancing songs. I mean, how could it not be with lyrics like “show praise with your body” and “lean back let it move right through ya”. This song makes me want to dance, and I don’t dance a lot on account of the fact that I am probably one of the most uncoordinated people to ever exist.

Next was “Miss Jackson” which Brendon has said numerous times is about a girl he doesn’t like, but he doesn’t usually put it that nicely. It makes the song feel very angsty though, which makes it fun to jam to. Anyways, this is when he decided to show off with his well-known backflip. I didn’t even know he was about to do it, but I was lucky enough to get it on video.

After this song, the band left the stage for an outfit change/break and did so quite creatively. While they were gone, a video was playing of Brendon being captured by a demon-looking monster, which is appropriate considering this album has inspired plenty of “monster” type vibes with their multiple music videos. I’m not exactly sure how to put the video into words, but it was definitely unique and entertaining and it doesn’t hurt at all that Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy was in it. The video was made to look like it was happening backstage, so towards the end, it showed Brendon walking to a stage.

The stage that Brendon was walking to was in the middle of the arena. I didn’t have the best view of it since I was towards the front but I liked the feeling of him being central and fans farther back getting to be closer to him. This is when Brendon sang “This is Gospel,” To my surprise, he sang the piano version. Not only did he sing the slower-sounding version beautifully, but to top it off he was doing so while playing a glittery piano that was spinning with the stage. It was very Brendon-esque and I loved it.

Okay, the next part is where things got crazy for me and my deepest form of ‘fangirl’ came out. Brendon said something about needing to get back to the main stage so security started to clear a pathway between the different floor sections. I saw on the screen that he started to walk into the crowd while singing “Death Of A Bachelor”. I was freaking out, but I didn’t think he would walk near me. Where I was sitting was Floor 2, row K, so I was the second to last row in that section and there was a space between that section and the one behind us. A few minutes passed where Brendon was actually letting fans touch and hug him, and I noticed the security guy walking between my section and the one behind us, clearing a path. That’s when I realized he was going to be walking right next to me. I stepped over my row to get closer and then it happened, Brendon Urie was two feet in front of me singing “Death Of A Bachelor”. I am not kidding, I must’ve said “oh my god I can’t believe that happened” at least 2352458 times. I was shaking. I know it sounds silly to freak out just from being close to Brendon, but I’ve liked Panic! At The Disco since I was in eighth grade. I’ve grown up with them, and they’re such a big influence on who I am today, so yeah, I freaked out and still am, to be honest. I was shaking so bad that I had to get Royce to record the rest of my videos for that night.

I attached the video I got for my Snapchat. Royce got a video of my reaction, but honestly, it’s WAY too embarrassing to post.

Even though I was still shaking and not processing anything at this point, obviously Brendon was in a better condition and continued the concert by playing “The Ballad of Mona Lisa”. I included this video too because Brendon did more of his magical vocal thing.

The concert then continued with Brendon covering Billy Joel’s “Movin’ Out” on the piano. Next was “Emperors New Clothes” and “Nicotine.” Both had amazing visuals. “Crazy=Genius” was after that, with fire shooting out of the stage and visuals of a padded cell on the screen. Brendon then played the final song off of Vices and Virtues for the night, “Let’s Kill Tonight.” Towards the end, he went up to the drums and started drumming like crazy. He then drummed to “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars and “Bitch Better Have My Money” by Rihanna.

Next was “Girls/Girls/Boys” which Brendon has made his anthem to show support of the LGBTQ community. Some of the fans from the show made and handed out colored hearts at the beginning of the concert for everyone to shine their light through during the song, making a rainbow-lit-up crowd to show support which went perfectly with Brendon’s pride flag that he put over his mic stand. I was expecting Brendon to say something before this song because last summer when I saw him he gave a little speech, but he kept it short before starting this time with a simple “F**k Donald Trump.”

After the song was over though, Brendon did a little more talking on the matter. I just have to say, I love seeing people with influence use it to help and support others. I’m proud to be a fan of someone who instead of spreading hate, spreads love and acceptance. I’ve attached a video of a little bit of Brendon’s speech.

After Brendon finished talking to the fans, he proceeded to do his famous cover of “Bohemian Rhapsody” which became really popular for its appearance in Suicide Squad. I’ve liked this song for a while, and although Brendon obviously can’t top Queen’s original version (no one could), he does the song justice.

Brendon then started to talk to the crowd again, thanking us for supporting the band and stuff like that. Then the crew came out to surprise him with a birthday cake and hats and the whole arena sang Happy Birthday, after which Brendon declared that day to be his “best birthday ever”, which just made me happy that I was a part of it.

At this point, I got sad because I knew the concert was coming to an end but I made the most of what was left. One of the last songs was the band’s most famous hit off their first album, and maybe even ever, “I Write Sins, Not Tragedies.”

Brendon thanked the crowd one more time after this song and even said it was one of his favorite shows EVER before starting to sing the final song, Victorious. The concert ended with gold and white confetti flying in the air and getting, well, everywhere. I even found some in my hair later that night.

After seeing Panic! with Weezer last summer, I thought it would be hard for them to live up to how fun that concert was, but they definitely did it. This was one of the best shows I’ve ever been to and I’m so happy I got to be a part of this tour. Leaving the venue, my legs were killing me, my voice was almost completely gone, and I couldn’t hear anything, but it was all worth it and I can’t wait to see them again.